Socio-emotional skills, behavior problems, and Spanish competence predict the acquisition of English among English language learners in poverty.

Abstract

This article analyzes the role that individual differences in children's cognitive, Spanish competence, and socio-emotional and behavioral skills play in predicting the concurrent and longitudinal acquisition of English among a large sample of ethnically diverse, low-income, Hispanic preschool children. Participants assessed at age 4 for language, cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral skills were followed through kindergarten. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that Spanish-speaking preschoolers with greater initiative, self-control, and attachment and fewer behavior problems at age 4 were more successful in obtaining English proficiency by the end of kindergarten compared to those initially weaker in these skills, even after controlling for cognitive/language skills and demographic variables. Also, greater facility in Spanish at age 4 predicted the attainment of English proficiency. Social and behavioral skills and proficiency in Spanish are valuable resources for low-income English language learners during their transition to school.Keywords: English language learner (ELL), dual language learner, Latino/Hispanic, social skills, English acquisitionThe number of English language learners (ELLs) in the United States has been increasing progressively in recent years. ELL enrollment in schools more than doubled between 1997 and 2008 (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, 2010). Hispanic children, who speak Spanish as their first language (L1), make up the largest proportion of ELL students in today's schools (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Given that (a) Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States; (b) disproportionately high numbers of Hispanic children live in poverty (Chau, Thampi, & Wight, 2010); and (c) Hispanic children, as a group, struggle with relatively poor educational achievement, Garcia and Jensen (2009) argued that young Hispanic children constitute an urgent demographic imperative requiring considerable research and policy attention.One of the key questions has to do with the conditions under which, and the speed with which, young Hispanic children acquire English. Depending on the pattern and timing of exposure to and support for both English and Spanish in the early years, there are many possible language outcomes for such children-some become fully bilingual fairly early on in childhood, learning English and maintaining Spanish in the process; some remain predominantly Spanish speakers with only limited English proficiency; and some become fully competent in English at the expense of Spanish. The current article examines child-level predictors of progress toward proficiency in English during pre-K and kindergarten among Spanish-speaking children in poverty. ELL children who become fully proficient in English, and who do so earlier in their educational career, do better later in school than those who continue to struggle with English proficiency (Halle, Hair, Wandner, McNamara, & Chien, 2012). Of course, English proficiency is only one of th...

English Language Proficiency and Early School Attainment Among Children Learning English as an Additional Language

“…() are notable exceptions. Nevertheless, results from this study are consistent with previous findings that children with EAL, who have good English language proficiency, show comparable academic attainment (Goldfeld et al., ; Halle et al., ; McLeod et al., ) and fewer social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties (Goldfeld et al., ; Halle et al., ; Winsler et al., ) at school entry, relative to monolingual peers, and show greater academic progress over the early school years (Halle et al., ).…”

“…This study is consistent with research reporting that greater English language proficiency in children with EAL is associated with greater academic attainment (Demie & Strand, ; Goldfeld et al., ; Halle et al., ; Prevoo et al., ; Strand & Demie, ) and greater social, emotional, and behavioral functioning (Dowdy et al., ; Goldfeld et al., ; Halle et al., ; Oades‐Sese et al., ; Winsler et al., ). However, there are some inconsistencies between this study and previous research concerning how children with EAL compare to monolingual peers on academic and social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes.…”

“…These inconsistencies likely reflect methodological differences in the way English language proficiency was determined and the use of different measures of social, emotional, and behavioral functioning and academic attainment. Additionally, few previous studies have considered the language proficiency of the monolingual comparison children (e.g., Halle et al., ; Strand & Demie, ; Winsler et al., ), though Goldfeld et al. () and McLeod et al.…”

“…In contrast, children with EAL who were not proficient in English by first grade showed comparable behavior, but poorer attention, eagerness to learn, and organization between kindergarten and fifth grade, relative to monolingual children. Similarly, Winsler, Kim, and Richard () found that Latino children with EAL and high English language proficiency showed greater social, emotional, and behavioral functioning at age 4 compared to monolingual English‐speaking children. In contrast, Latino children with EAL and low English language proficiency typically showed comparable social, emotional, and behavioral functioning to monolingual children.…”

The Effects of After-school Care, Family Environment on Self-regulatory Learning Ability and Emotional-behavioral Problems in Each Gender of Early School-aged Children from Dual Income Families

“…유아기 및 학 령기의 정서·행동문제가 중학생, 성인기까지 지속적으로 영향 미칠 수 있으며 (김은주, 이승희, 2013; 유숙경, 이승희, 2012), 학령기 초 행동문제와 낮은 학업성취도가 동시에 출현하는 빈도가 최소 10% 이상이고 이는 이후 학교 및 사회 부적응과 관계된다 (Gray, Carter, Briggs-Gowan, Jones, & Wagmiller, 2014 (최경순, 정현희, 1996;Halpern, 1992 (Winsler, Kim, & Richard, 2014) 및 행 동문제 (Gray et al, 2014), 부주의 (이수진, 오경자, 2014), 방과후 자기보호 아동이 보이는 적응과 불안 정서 (이재연, 강성희, 1996; 이준호, 2012; 최정미, 오선영, 2004) (김지경, 김균희, 2013;보건복지가족부, 2009;Cain & Hofferth, 1989 …”